Day: December 20, 2013

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
14. Dashiell Hammett dog ASTA
Asta is the wonderful little dog in the superb movie “The Thin Man” starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (as Nick and Nora Charles). In the original story by Dashiell Hammett, Asta was a female Schnauzer, but on screen Asta was played by a wire-haired fox terrier called “Skippy”. Skippy was also the dog in “Bringing up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, the one who kept stealing the dinosaur bone. Skippy retired in 1939, so Asta was played by other dogs in the remainder of “The Thin Man” films.

15. It may follow eleven NOON
Our word “noon”, meaning “midday”, comes from the Latin “nona hora” that translates as “ninth hour”. Back in Ancient Rome, the “ninth hour” was three in the afternoon. Over the centuries, traditions such as church prayers and “midday” meals shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and so “noon” became understood as 12 noon.

16. Dumb INANE
Our word “inane” meaning silly or lacking substance comes from the Latin “inanitis” meaning “empty space”.

17. Feature of the first crossword puzzle, seen in 56-Across on 12/21/1913 SYMMETRICAL GRID
It is generally accepted that the first crossword puzzle was published as a “Word-Cross” puzzle on December 21, 1913 in the “New York World”. The name “Word-Cross” was changed to “Cross-Word” a few weeks due to a mistake in the typesetting room. The name “crossword” has been used ever since. The “New York World” then started publishing the puzzles every week, and the idea was picked up by other newspapers. By 1920, crosswords were so popular that the New York Public Library reported difficulties in meeting the demand for access to dictionaries and encyclopedias.

20. Red Cross supply PLASMA
Plasma (sometimes “plasm”) is the clear, yellow-colored liquid component of blood and lymph in which cells are suspended.

Back in 1859, a Swiss businessman called Henri Dunant went to meet French emperor Napoleon III, to discuss making it easier to conduct commerce in French-occupied Algeria. The Emperor was billeted at Solferino, where France and Austria were engaged in a major battle. In one day, Dunant witnessed 40,000 soldiers die in battle and countless wounded suffering on the battlefield without any organized medical care. Dunant abandoned his business agenda and instead spent a week caring for the sick and wounded. Within a few years he had founded the precursor to the Red Cross, and in 1901 he was awarded the first ever Nobel Peace Prize.

29. D.C.’s __ Mall NATIONAL
The National Mall is a park in downtown Washington, D.C. The National Mall is home to several museums that are part of the Smithsonian, as well as the National Gallery of Art.

33. Spice Girl __ B MEL
“Mel B” is the stage name of Melanie Brown who came to fame as a member of the Spice Girls musical group. She took the name Mel B to distinguish herself from fellow band member Melanie Chisholm (Melanie C). Mel B was also known as “Scary Spice”, a nickname given to her by the media. American viewers can see Mel B on the TV show “America’s Got Talent”, as she replaced Sharon Osbourne as a judge in 2013.

34. Pianist Templeton ALEC
Alec Templeton was a composer and pianist from Cardiff in Wales. Active from the 1930s to the early 1960s, Templeton played mainly classical and jazz music. He was also blind, and had been so from birth.

35. *A talon SERE
“Sere” is an old word for a talon or claw.

36. Like the first crossword puzzle DIAMOND-SHAPED
Arthur Wynne is generally credited with the invention of what we now known as a crossword puzzle. Wynne was born in Liverpool, England and emigrated to the US when he was 19-years-old. He worked as a journalist and was living in Cedar Grove, New Jersey in 1913 when he introduced a “Word-Cross Puzzle” in his page of puzzles written for the “New York World”. And the rest, as they say, is history …

40. Quart, e.g. UNIT
The unit of volume “quart” is so called because it is one quarter of a gallon.

41. Speaker systs. PAS
Public address (PA) system.

42. Ab __: initially OVO
“Ab ovo” translates literally from Latin as “from the egg”, and is used in English to mean “from the beginning”.

48. Site of the George W. Bush presidential library SMU
Southern Methodist University (SMU) is located in University Park, Texas (part of Dallas), and was founded in 1911. SMU is home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

51. Chan player OLAND
Warner Oland was a Swedish actor, best remembered for his portrayal of Charlie Chan in a series of 16 highly successful Hollywood movies. Before playing Charlie Chan, Oland made a name for himself playing another Asian role on screen, that of Dr. Fu Manchu.

56. See 17-Across THE NEW YORK WORLD
The “New York World” was a New York City newspaper that was published from 1860 until 1931. Famously, the “New York World” was published by Joseph Pulitzer from 1883 to 1911. The paper published the world’s first crossword in 1913, and also founded the “World Almanac” in 1868. The “World” in the almanac’s title comes from the nickname for the paper itself, namely “The World”.

61. Youngest Wilcox child in “Howards End” EVIE
“Howards End” was written by E. M. Forster. Emma Thompson won an Oscar for playing Margaret Schlegel in the excellent 1992 film adaptation.

63. New Eng. campus UMASS
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) is the largest public university in New England. UMass was founded back in 1863, although it took a while to get the school into service. Construction work was delayed and the college went through two presidents before William S. Clark took charge. He cracked the whip, completed the construction and enrolled the first students in the same year that he took over the reins, in 1867. As a result, although Clark was the third President of UMass, he is regarded by most as the school’s founding father.

Down
2. Refuges ASYLA
“Asylum” (plural “asyla”) is a Latin word, meaning “sanctuary”.

4. Takes off LAMS
To be “on the lam” is to be in flight, to have escaped from prison. “On the lam” is American slang that originated at the end of the 19th century. The word “lam” also means to “beat” or “thrash”, as in “lambaste”. So “on the lam” might derive from the phrase “to beat it, to scram”.

7. “Bon __” SOIR
In French, the one-word greeting “bonsoir” means “good evening”. The two-word phrase “bon soir” also means “good evening”, but might be used in the sense of “it was a good evening”.

10. Broadway supporter ANGEL
An angel investor is one who provides capital very early in a business’s life cycle. The term “angel” is borrowed from Broadway, where angels were wealthy people who provided funds to stage theatrical productions.

12. “Wheel of Fortune” buy AN I
Pat Sajak took over the hosting of “Wheel of Fortune” back in 1983 and has been doing the job ever since. Sajak had a short run as a talk show host in 1989/1990 and used to sub quite often for Larry King and Regis Philbin.

Vanna White is the lady who turns the letters on the “Wheel of Fortune” game show. White is big into knitting and crochet, and has her own line of yarns called “Vanna’s Choice”.

24. Two-time Oscar winner Wiest DIANNE
Dianne Wiest is an actress from Kansas City, Missouri. Wiest has won two Best Supporting Actress Academy Awards, for “Hannah and Her Sisters” in 1987 and for “Bullets over Broadway” in 1995. In both movies, she was directed by Woody Allen.

27. *An aromatic plant NARD
The spikenard (also called “nard”) is a flowering plant that grows in the Himalayas. Pope Francis included the spikenard in his papal coat of arms, as the plant has long been a symbol of Saint Joseph.

28. Crowd at Lake Como? TRE
In Italian, three (tre) is a crowd.

Lake Como is a glacial lake in Lombardy in Italy. Lake Como has long been a retreat for the rich and famous. Lakeside homes there are owned by Madonna, George Clooney, Gianni Versace, Sylvester Stallone and Richard Branson.

31. Baby Ruth maker NESTLE
One might be forgiven for thinking that the candy bar called a Baby Ruth was named after baseball legend Babe Ruth. However, the Curtiss Candy Company that introduced the confection in 1921 has stated that it was in fact named for Ruth Cleveland, the daughter of President Grover Cleveland. That said, there seems to be some debate …

38. “This Is 40” director Judd APATOW
Judd Apatow is best known for producing the TV series “Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared”. Not my cup of tea …

“This Is 40” isa 2012 comedy written and directed by Judd Apatow and starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. “This Is 40” is a sequel to the 2007 Apatow movie “Knocked Up”. I haven’t seen either, and am not itching to do so …

39. *The fibre of the gomuti palm DOH
The Arenga pinnata is a feather palm from Asia that also has the common name Sugar Palm and Gomuti Palm. The sap of the palm is harvested to make sugar. The bark is dark and fibrous, and is called “doh”. Doh is used to make cordage.

43. “__ Lot”: King novel SALEM’S
Stephen King’s “’Salem’s Lot” was published in 1975, his second novel. It belongs to the horror genre, so you won’t catch me reading it. The title refers to the Maine town of Jerusalem’s Lot, or ‘Salem’s Lot for short. There’s an interesting story about the actual publication of the first edition. The intended price of $8.95 was changed at the last minute to $7.95, but not all the price changes were made before release. A few copies “escaped” with the dust cover marked $8.95, and they are now worth a lot of money. Go check your bookshelves …

46. 2002 Alice Sebold best-seller “The Lovely __” BONES
“The Lovely Bones” is a novel by Alice Sebold that was first published in 2002. The book was adapted into a wonderful film directed by Peter Jackson that was released in 2010.

“The Lovely Bones” is a remarkable film directed by Peter Jackson (of “Lord of the Rings” fame). It stars the incredibly talented Irish actress, Saoirse Ronan, who plays a 14-year-old girl who has been murdered and is living in a surreal “in-between” world that is neither Heaven nor Earth. Often I find computer-generated graphics in movies overpowering and distracting, but this movie uses the technique to create a beautiful backdrop that really brings the story to life.

48. Flu fighter SERUM
Blood serum is the clear, yellowish part of blood i.e. that part which is neither a blood cell or a clotting factor. Included in blood serum are antibodies, the proteins that are central to our immune system. Blood serum from animals that have immunity to some disease can be transferred to another individual, hence providing that second individual with some level of immunity. Blood serum used to pass on immunity can be called “antiserum”.

49. Pop’s __ Vanilli MILLI
Milli Vanilli famously won a Grammy and had it revoked when it was discovered that they didn’t even provide the lead vocals for the award-winning recording, and just lip-synced when performing on stage.

52. Putin put-down? NYET
“Nyet” is Russian for “no”, and “da” is Russian for “yes”.

Vladimir Putin became acting President of Russia at the very end of 1999 when Boris Yeltsin resigned. Putin was elected in his own right in 2000, re-elected in 2004, and then ran up against a term limit in 2008. In 2008 Putin was appointed by his successor, President Dmitry Medvedev, to the position of Prime Minister. Putin is a controversial figure, inside and outside Russia. On the one hand he led the country out of an economic crisis into a period of stability and relative prosperity. On the other hand he has been associated with government corruption and accused of allowing private concerns to have undue influence on government actions.

56. Calendar abbr. THU
In Norse mythology, Thor was the son of Odin. Thor wielded a mighty hammer and was the god of thunder, lightning and storms. Our contemporary word “Thursday” comes from “Thor’s Day”.

57. One acting badly HAM
The word “ham”, describing a performer who overacts, is apparently a shortened form of “hamfatter” and dates back to the late 1800s. “Hamfatter” comes from a song in old minstrel shows called “The Ham-Fat Man”. It seems that a poorly performing actor was deemed to have the “acting” qualities of a minstrel made up in blackface.

59. Small inlet RIA
A drowned valley might be called a ria or a fjord, both formed as sea level rises. A ria is a drowned valley created by river erosion, and a fjord is a drowned valley created by glaciation.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. *A bar of wood or iron (one of nine starred clues/answers that appear here exactly as they did in the first crossword puzzle) RAIL
5. Assuming that IF SO
9. Disastrous FATAL
14. Dashiell Hammett dog ASTA
15. It may follow eleven NOON
16. Dumb INANE
17. Feature of the first crossword puzzle, seen in 56-Across on 12/21/1913 SYMMETRICAL GRID
20. Red Cross supply PLASMA
21. Fix, as a knot RETIE
22. Opinion SAY
23. Letter string BCD
25. Agent’s clients TALENT
29. D.C.’s __ Mall NATIONAL
32. What some pros shoot PAR
33. Spice Girl __ B MEL
34. Pianist Templeton ALEC
35. *A talon SERE
36. Like the first crossword puzzle DIAMOND-SHAPED
39. Short warning DON’T!
40. Quart, e.g. UNIT
41. Speaker systs. PAS
42. Ab __: initially OVO
43. Reinforcing construction piece STEEL BAR
45. Like some tea HERBAL
47. Not fast EAT
48. Site of the George W. Bush presidential library SMU
51. Chan player OLAND
54. “The door’s open” COME IN
56. See 17-Across THE NEW YORK WORLD
60. __ pants (baggy women’s trousers) HAREM
61. Youngest Wilcox child in “Howards End” EVIE
62. *To govern RULE
63. New Eng. campus UMASS
64. Go fast TEAR
65. Arabic for “commander” EMIR

Down
1. Woodworking tools RASPS
2. Refuges ASYLA
3. “Possibly” IT MAY
4. Takes off LAMS
5. Whole INTACT
6. With 8-Down, as a welcome change FOR
7. “Bon __” SOIR
8. See 6-Down ONCE
9. Of a son or daughter FILIAL
10. Broadway supporter ANGEL
11. Paving substance TAR
12. “Wheel of Fortune” buy AN I
13. Took by the hand LED
18. Preserve, in a way EMBALM
19. Stick on ATTACH
24. Two-time Oscar winner Wiest DIANNE
26. Sporting weapons EPEES
27. *An aromatic plant NARD
28. Crowd at Lake Como? TRE
29. In order NEAT
30. Number from the past OLDIE
31. Baby Ruth maker NESTLE
33. Unimportant MINOR
35. *Part of a ship SPAR
36. *A bird DOVE
37. Not allow OUTLAW
38. “This Is 40” director Judd APATOW
39. *The fibre of the gomuti palm DOH
43. “__ Lot”: King novel SALEM’S
44. Broadway supporter BACKER
46. 2002 Alice Sebold best-seller “The Lovely __” BONES
48. Flu fighter SERUM
49. Pop’s __ Vanilli MILLI
50. Hypnotized UNDER
52. Putin put-down? NYET
53. *A pigeon DOVE
55. *Opposed to less MORE
56. Calendar abbr. THU
57. One acting badly HAM
58. Time worth remembering ERA
59. Small inlet RIA

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